Love Connection
by Serenity-Hermione Angel
Summary: Hermione has a secret. 11 years later that secret goes to Hogwarts and meets her father. So what happens when Harry sees a 1st year who looks familiar? HHR!
1. Default Chapter

Love connection  
  
Author: take a wild guess ;)   
  
Genre: Romance  
  
Rating: Er, I guess PG-13. *shrugs* I dunno. Tell me if it needs to be lower. I don't make good judgement.  
  
Key words: Harry, Hermione, future  
  
Summary: Hermione and Harry had a little too much to drink one night and soon she left her flat that she shared with her two best friends for an unknown reason. Harry lives on, though heartbroken, and accepts the job as the DADA teacher. But what happens when he meets a 1st year who looks strikingly familiar?  
  
Disclaimer: I own my characters and J.K. owns hers. Simple enough, eh?   
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 1: I think I know her  
  
~*~ Flashback~*~  
  
Hermione opened her brown eyes and hissed at the sun shining in her eyes. She made a mental note to close her blinds before she fell asleep. Hermione went to sit up but found that she had such a bad headache that she had to fall back onto the navy blue pillows, staring at the white walls.   
  
"What the hell?" Hermione muttered, raising her hand to cradle her forehead. She noticed that her arm wasn't covered by her long-sleeved PJ top, which was odd because she always slept with a long-sleeved shirt. Hermione shrugged it off and turned her face into the pillows. Suddenly, she realized that the pillows weren't neither the scent, fluffiness, or the color that they had been that previous night. Then she realized that the window in her bedroom was across from her bed, not next to it. Also, she had light blue curtains and not blinds. When Hermione opened her eyes more, she began to realize that her walls weren't either white or bare. They were a nice light green and had pictures on them. Hermione, in confusion, rolled over and screamed at the sight of Harry's sleeping form.   
  
"Oh my God!" Hermione cried out, leaping out of the bed, pulling the comforter with her. Harry woke up and screamed as well.   
  
"What are you doing in my room, Hermione!? Your's is down the hall!" Harry yelled, sitting up and holding a sheet up to himself.   
  
"I have no idea what I'm doing in here!" Hermione said back, pulling the comforter tighter around herself. Harry and Hermione suddenly blushed.   
  
"Do you think?" Harry asked, suddenly nervous. Hermione spotted her shirt and jeans on the floor, her bra on a chair across from her. She nodded slowly. With a gulp, she spoke.   
  
"Okay, let's use logic here. We had some drinks and things got a little out of," Hermione paused and looked around the room before looking back at him, "hand. Nothing probably will happen so it'll all be fine. We can just forget this ever happened. After all, thousands of people have this happen to them all the time. Now I just got to find one and ask what they do after they realize it." Hermione sank to the ground, pulling her knees to her chest. She placed her forehead on the navy blue comforter that covered her knees and began banging her head on it.   
  
"Don't freak out Hermione!" Harry said, wrapping his arms around her. She looked up and was thankful to see he had put on pants. She sighed and allowed him to embrace her.   
  
"Can we forget about this?" Hermione asked, a few tears coming from her brown eyes. Harry pulled away from her and wiped one of her tears away.   
  
"Of course. No matter what, we'll never speak of this again." Harry promised.  
  
~*~ End of Flashback~*~  
  
Hermione sighed at the memory that haunted her so much. It had been nearly twelve years since that night and Hermione never let it leave her mind since it happened. What is this it you ask?  
  
The day she left her flat with Ron and Harry because she was pregnant with Harry's child.   
  
"Mum! Watch the road!" 11-year-old Perdita yelled at her mother from her passenger seat.   
  
"Sorry sweetie. I don't know where my head was." Hermione replied to her child. Perdita rolled her amber eyes that were speckled with green. Perdita had her mother's hair color with streaks of a red color thrown here and there, but it wasn't as bushy as Hermione's had been. Although, that wasn't saying it was tame.  
  
"It's on your shoulders and connected to your neck, there it belongs. It's your brain that's wondering." Perdita replied smartly. Hermione just looked at her daughter and smiled. Perdita was just like she was, only braver. Unlike her mother, Perdita would often climb the tallest trees in their backyard and then hang upside down from the branches, unafraid of falling. Then she'd jump down and if she hurt herself, she'd cry very little, mend it with a band aid or something, and then go off doing something else, acting the whole time like nothing happened.  
  
It wasn't very often that she cried for more then half of a minute. The longest she ever cried was when she was born, and that was no more then a quarter of an hour. The doctors thought it odd but Hermione didn't. In her daughter was the bravery of Harry.   
  
"Perdita darling, don't forget to take in your stuff when we get home." Hermione reminded her daughter as she turned down their street. Although Perdita was well aware that her mother was a witch and she might be, too, she still enjoyed going shopping at muggle places, which meant muggle traveling. She preferred Floo Powder but one would be lucky to find a muggle that wasn't scared at the sight of a person appearing in their fireplace.  
  
"Alright, mother." Perdita said when they parked in their driveway, opening the back door and taking her various shopping bags out of the back. Hermione grabbed a few and they went into their house, where they were greeted by Hermione's husband, Cameron.  
  
  
  
"How was the shopping trip, girls?" Cameron asked, giving Hermione a kiss at her entrance. Perdita shrugged at his question and dumped her things onto the couch. He gave her a stern look. "Perdita, the living room isn't a place to come home and dump your things. Go put then in your room." Cameron ordered. Perdita just looked at him and then at her mother.   
  
"Perdita, please go put your things in your room." Hermione said, seeing the tension between her husband and daughter.  
  
"Alright, mum." Perdita said, glaring at Cameron at the reference to her mother.  
  
She was aware that Cameron wasn't her father, for Hermione and Cameron were married when Perdita was nine. She acted like a typical child with her stepfather by disregarding him and not listening. Her favorite thing to do when Cameron ordered her around was reply 'I don't have to listen to you. You're not my father'. Of course, Cameron would reply 'You don't know who he is, anyways' which would make Perdita angry and stomp away. These arguments only happened when Hermione wasn't around because Perdita feared she'd hurt her mothers feelings if her father was mentioned. Whenever Perdita would ask about him, Hermione would get teary-eyed and reply 'I'll tell you when you're older.' After ten years of it, Perdita gave up.   
  
"Hermione, why won't she ever listen to me?" Cameron asked when Perdita had shut her door from the upstairs.   
  
"It's just a phase. When she gets older she'll realize that she needs you and she'll respect you." Hermione answered.   
  
"When's older? When I'm dead?" Cameron asked. Hermione laughed and kissed him cheek.   
  
"Maybe." She said playfully. Cameron just looked at her and she laughed again, walking over to the couch and sitting down, shopping bags around her feet. Hermione sighed and laid back onto the couch. Trying to get Cameron and Perdita to stop fighting was like reasoning with Ron; simply impossible. She had attempted to get them to get along but it seemed like Perdita wouldn't accept anyone but her father, although she had never meet Harry. Perdita didn't even KNOW she was the daughter of the famous Harry Potter. Hermione found it especially ironic that Perdita was fascinated with Harry, so much that she read everything she could on him. But none of them ever said that Harry had a child so Hermione didn't care. Not many people in the world knew that Perdita Granger was really, by blood, Perdita Potter. Of course, Harry didn't know about Perdita and Hermione hoped he never would! She was going to keep her secret, even if it meant never seeing him again!  
  
  
  
"Mum!" Perdita cried from upstairs, sounding excited. Hermione looked over at Cameron, who was reading a book, and then got up, walking up the stairs. Before she even got to the middle, Perdita came charging out of her room, jumping up and down and holding something in her hand. Hermione gasped. "Mum, I'm going to Hogwarts! Mum I'm a witch!" Perdita cried happily, shoving her letter at her mother. Hermione smiled and enveloped her daughter in a hug, the two excited. Cameron just looked up from his book, not even interested. Although he was a wizard, he didn't see any excitement in his stepdaughter going to the best school in the world for teaching wizarding. He knew that Perdita was going to be a witch for Hermione had told him that the father was a wizard and it wasn't too likely that Perdita would be a Squib.   
  
"We'll have to go to Diagon Alley to get your books and things. Oh, this is so exciting! My little Perdita going to Hogwarts! That's where I had the best experiences of my life! Even ask your godfather, he knows every one of them to boot." Hermione said, referring to Ron. Hermione kept in touch with Ron and he was there for her at Perdita's birth. But Hermione had made him swear on penalty of hex, that he wouldn't ever tell Harry about Perdita. In fact, he and his wife were the only people not related to Hermione that she told only because she trusted them with her life.  
  
"Can we go now?" Perdita pushed, looking at her mom with excitement. Hermione looked over her shoulder to Cameron, who just shrugged.   
  
"Go if you want." Cameron replied. Hermione looked at Perdita and nodded. The girl squealed and sprinted back into her room, grabbing her purse and then looking at her mother.   
  
"Ready." She said with a grin. Hermione just smiled and grabbed her own purse, kissing Cameron before the two grabbed some Floo Powder and ending up in Diagon Alley.   
  
"I'm so excited." Perdita said, jumping up and down. Hermione laughed. She could defiantly see Harry in her daughter if anything else.   
  
"Let's go get your books." Hermione said, pushing her daughter through the crowd of people. When they entered Florish and Blotts, there were a few students crowding it but not too many.   
  
"Go figure Hermione Granger would come here first." A male voice said. Hermione grinned and rushed forward to hug Ron and his wife Lavender.   
  
"Uncle Ron!" Perdita cried, jumping up into his arms. Ron laughed, as did the other two girls.   
  
"Hey Perdita." Ron's son, Jeremy, greeted. He was the same age as Perdita and was entering Hogwarts as well.   
  
Lavender and Ron had married right out of Hogwarts and had their first son, Vince, when Lavender was 19. Harry and Hermione decided to move in with them to help them with their children as soon as Lavender had their daughter a year later, Jamie. Lavender was upset when Hermione left because it was the exact day of Hermione's 21st birthday and they never got a chance to take Hermione shopping and such all day like she had planned. In fact, Hermione had had Lavender hold her hand while waiting for the pregnancy test. Harry was out looking at brooms when Hermione packed up and left that morning, leaving a one month pregnant best friend behind.   
  
"Are you ever going to tell Harry?" Lavender asked as the two girls walked around. Hermione's brown eyes got wide.   
  
"Are you NUTS!? It's been years since we last talked! How would you feel if you got a letter saying something like 'How are you? I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you that you have a daughter and she's going to Hogwarts. So, how's work?' I think I'd be a bit freaked!" Hermione cried.   
  
"Whoa, chill OUT! Perdita could have heard you just now!" Lavender said, trying to shush her friend. Hermione sighed and shook her head slowly.   
  
"I'm sorry, Lav. I'm just a bit stressed. I keep on thinking that Harry will show up and he'll see me and Perdita and know right away that she's his." Hermione replied. Lavender put a reassuring arm around Hermoine's shoulders.   
  
"If you don't think about it, it won't happen. I promise." Lavender said. Hermione nodded and they returned to their children.  
  
They spent the evening shopping and having fun. The two older Weasley kids gave their brother and friend advice about Hogwarts while the adults just talked.   
  
"Get up, mum! Up!" Perdita cried happily, nearly jumping for joy. It was the first and she was completely over excited. She had woken up at 5 and checked a billion times to make sure she had everything.   
  
"Can't your daughter be normal and hate school?" Cameron grumbled. Perdita stuck her tongue out at him in her response.  
  
"This isn't just school, Cameron! This is HOGWARTS! The best school ever! And I'm going to it today!" Perdita declared happily. Hermoine just smiled and rolled over.   
  
"Alright darling, let's go." She said, sliding out of bed. Perdita squealed in delight and ran downstairs, looking over her things once more. Ron, Lavender, and Hermione bought Perdita and Jeremy an owl each for their pets. Perdita named her beautiful snowy one Ella while Jeremy named his brown one Richard. Perdita thought the name was stupid but he just fired back that Ella was dumber.   
  
"I can't wait to go! I'm so excited." Perdita said as they drove off to the train station. Hermoine convinced her family that driving was the best way to get there because since Perdita got them up so early, it was worth taking their time to get there.   
  
"Hello, Hermione dear!" an aged Mrs. Weasley greeted as Hermoine helped unload Perdita's trunk from the trunk.   
  
"Hello, Mrs. Weasley." Hermione replied. Most of the Weasley boys and Ginny were with her, their redheaded children running about. "Where's Mr. Weasley and Percy?"   
  
"Swamped with work, both of them. Percy dropped Stephen and Kaitlyn off early because he wanted to get back to work and as usual Bill and Charlie are sending this children to some school elsewhere and are too busy to see their nieces and nephews off." Mrs. Weasley replied warmly.   
  
"That's Percy. Always working." George muttered.   
  
"Can't even see his own kids off." Fred added, putting his arm around Christen's shoulder, the 4th year looking up and smiling at his father.   
  
"Can't you two lay off? He's your brother." Angelina said, Alicia nodding.   
  
"By some default, I'm sure." George replied. Angelina and Alicia rolled their eyes.   
  
"Well, let's get going. The train leaves promptly." Ginny announced. Everyone nodded and ran through the barrier. Ginny and Colin (A/N: I couldn't think of anyone besides him because I need there to be a Malfoy who isn't related to the Weasley's) had a son but he was still too young to go to school.  
  
"Bye mum!" Perdita cried, throwing her arms around her mothers neck and kissing her cheek.   
  
"Have fun, sweetie." Hermione replied. Perdita looked at Cameron and just nodded. Jamie grabbed Perdita's hand and they ran off onto the train. Hermoine sighed as she watched Perdita go off with the Weasley children.   
  
"It's so wonderful to see them off for the first time, isn't it?" Mrs. Weasley said to Hermoine, who smiled. Everyone waited until the train was gone then left themselves.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Professor Potter!" A child at the back of the room called.   
  
"Yes, Miss Mun?" Harry Potter replied, looking at the 4th year girl.   
  
"Can't we have a free day? No one feels like working. Professor Snape already loaded us with homework." She asked. Harry smiled slightly at her request. He knew exactly how his class felt but he didn't want to be a push-over. Some of his students thought they could use his DADA class as a blow off seeing as how he was the youngest teacher but he wanted to be taken seriously.   
  
  
  
"As much as I know how not fun it is, I'm afraid I cannot. We have a lot to cover this year." Harry said. There was a collected groan from his students, making him feel bad. "Listen, as much as I want to, I don't want you all thinking you can just push me over all the time because I know what it feels like to have all of your teachers. I'd get disrespected by my fellow staff and it's hard to work in a place where you're not respected. But I'll make you a promise." Harry told them. They all looked hopefully at him. "At the end of every week I'll let you have some free time." The whole class cheered happily. Harry smiled to himself and leaned against his desk. He knew his students liked him the best.   
  
When the bell rung, Harry sat down and waited for his first years to come in. He knew Jeremy would be in this class because he was having his Gryffindor/Slytherin class now and he was proud to see him sorted into Gryffindor with the rest of his cousins and family. When Jeremy entered, he had three other children with him. One was a dark skinned boy by the name of Samuel Thomas, the son of Dean Thomas, and black haired girl by the name of Kelly Vent, if he remembered correctly. But the other girl didn't place with any of the names of the students sorted the night before. He figured that she was probably one of the ones that was sorted while he was talking to Professor McGonagall about becoming the Quidditch ref while Madam Hooch was out with a broken leg that she got just two days prior. But, something about this young girl seemed so very familiar.   
  
"Hey Harry... I mean Professor Potter!" Jeremy greeted happily.   
  
"You can call me Harry when no one else is around. But around staff and students, I'm still Harry." He said in a quiet voice. Jeremy smiled and walked to a seat with Samuel, Kelly and the other girl sitting at a table right in front of them. Harry watched as the students filled into the class room, trying to place each with his or her name that was announced at sorting. There were a few he couldn't seem to place but he figured he got most of them right.   
  
"Alright, everyone sit down and settle." Harry called to his class, trying to catch their attention as the bell sounded. "Welcome to your first day of the Defense Against the Dark Arts and might I also say welcome to Hogwarts. Now, some of you right away might be thinking 'look, there's a young teacher. He'll lay off on us!' but you're wrong. Sure, I may give in once in a while because I've had every one of your teachers and I know how they're like, but you can't push me over. I'm your teacher and I plan on teaching you how to defend yourself and others if you ever come across anything vile. Any questions?" Harry asked. Right away, a hand of a girl shot up.   
  
"Can we see your scar?" She asked.   
  
"Will you tell us how you got it!" A boy in the corner called.   
  
"Tell us how you defeated the Dark Lord!"   
  
"What was it like?"  
  
"Are you really the Boy-Who-Lived? Aren't you really the Man-Who-Lived-Twice, now?"   
  
"Why are you still single?"   
  
"Because he's been waiting for the perfect girl!"  
  
"How romantic!"   
  
"How pathetic!"   
  
"Okay, that was a bad idea, but I'll answer every question." He lifted his bangs and showed the class his scar. They all studied it with interest, even some of the Slytherin's. He dropped his bangs and continued. "I got it because of the Dark Lord, I defeated him with magic and almost killing myself, it was horrifying but thrilling, yes, I guess I am the Man-Who-Lived-Twice seeing as how I survived the killing curse twice, and I'm not single as of this summer when I got married. Now, any questions relating to the class?" He asked. No one rose their hands. He smiled and caved. "Alright, any more questions about my personal life?"  
  
"What's her name?" Asked the girl from before.   
  
"Well, Miss Jones, her name is Cho. We've been together for seven years."   
  
"Any kids?" Harry shook his head.   
  
"But you're 33! Shouldn't you have at least one child? Someone to carry on the Potter name?" At that, Harry thought. Was he really 33? Did he really miss so many years? He knew that Cho wanted to have kids but had become discouraged when she had a miscarriage with her last husband which earned her a divorce because it was her third one.   
  
Harry finally calmed down his class and he took role. About half way down, he stopped. "Perdita–Granger?" Harry called. 'There is no way. For her to have a child this age, she'd've had to had her a while after she left us. It must just be a popular last name.' Harry thought to himself.   
  
"Here." Called the girl he didn't recognize. Harry marked her there and continued. He smiled slightly when he called out the name 'Hunter Malfoy', which belonged to a boy with blonde hair and steel gray eyes.   
  
"Miss Granger, would you mind staying a couple of seconds after class?" Harry asked after role was done. She looked at her friends, slightly paled. Kelly shrugged as did the other two. When that time came, Kelly walked up to the desk with Perdita.   
  
"This won't take long, Miss Vent." Harry told the girl. She took one last look at her friend as if she was dying and walked off to the other two.   
  
"What did I do?" Perdita asked, scared. Harry laughed.   
  
"Nothing, nothing. I just wanted to know if you were related to a friend of mine because of your last name. What are your parents names?" Harry asked. It suddenly hit him that if she WAS Hermione's daughter her last name wouldn't be Granger, but it was too late for him not asking.   
  
"Oh." Perdita let out a sigh of relief. "My mum's name is Hermione Granger." She said. Harry looked at her, waiting for her to finish.   
  
  
  
"And your father?" He said.   
  
"Forgive me for being terribly forward, Professor Potter, but I'm a–a bastard child. I never meet my father and my mum won't tell me who is it, thus why I have her last name. She did get married but I refused to take on his name." Perdita said. Harry looked at her then nodded.   
  
"Yeah, I went to school with your mum. We were good friends." Harry told her. "Well, you may go now." Harry said. Perdita nodded and ran off.   
  
"What was that about?" Sam asked.   
  
"He wanted to know about my mum. Apparently, they were friends." Perdita replied.   
  
"Yeah, you knew that already. That's the Harry that dad always talks about." Jeremy told her. Perdita suddenly remembered.   
  
"That's him?" She said, pointing behind her shoulder.   
  
"Yeah." Jeremy replied. Perdita shrugged and they walked on to Transfigurations.   
  
~*~ Dinner~*~  
  
Harry sat at the table, thinking about what Perdita had told him. He was surprised that Ron never told him that Hermoine had gotten married. Actually, now that he thought about it, Ron never said ANYTHING about Hermione. It was like Hermione was dead or something. But he knew that Ron still saw Hermione because there were a few pictures of her around Ron's house, although every one had only the Weasley family in it, never hinting that there was anyone in her life at all.   
  
"'Arry!" Hagrid said for the four time, poking Harry. He turned and looked at his friend.   
  
"Yes? What were you saying?" Harry replied.   
  
"You 'aven't touched yer food. Somethin' wrong?" Hagrid asked. Harry looked over at Perdita, who was talking with her friends, and then shook his head.   
  
"Oh, I'm just not hungry." He replied. Hagrid studied him and then went back to eating, Harry returning to thinking. Suddenly, he stood up and dashed out of the Great Hall, everyone watching him.   
  
"What's with him?" McGonagall asked Hagrid, who shrugged.   
  
-end of chapter! GAH WAS THAT LONG! I mean LONG! 11 pages! Well, tell me what you think!!!!! And sorry about the OCC with McGonagall there but yeah, I just randomly but a teachers name there. Lol! Please review!  
  
3 Serenity 


	2. In Her Blood

Chapter 2: In her blood

Author: I hope it hasn't changed! I think I'm still me! looking over self to see if she's still her Yeah! It's still me! Wow, I was so scared that I might have changed!

Genre: Romance

Rating: It didn't change

Key words for this chapter: Harry, Hermione, Perdita, confusing

Summary: Harry begins to think about what Perdita says and Perdita begins to have a mix of what her parents went through!

Disclaimer: Now MY characters are going to dominate a bit more although the goddess J.K.'s are still around!

Thanx SO much for the reviews! I mean really! I really appreciate them all! grins Oh, and if any of you are wondering about Perdita's name, you'll find out why and where it's from, I promise. ENJOY!

(Look at the spiffy divider thingy...)

"Hey Perdita!" Jeremy called out as Perdita entered the Common Room.

"Hey!" She called back. She approached her friends, who were sitting by the fire.

"Ready for another day?" Kelly asked. Perdita just shrugged.

"Why wouldn't she be? She's the smartest person so far!" Sam exclaimed.

"Am not!" Perdita replied modestly.

"You answered every question in every class yesterday! The professors must LOVE you already!" Jeremy said. Perdita just rolled her eyes.

"So what? My mum used to read me every Standard Book of Spells books that we owned when I was a kid. Then she'd teach me other things in other subjects, too. She just wanted me to be ready." Perdita explained. The others just looked at her.

"Whatever, Perdita." Kelly said with a laugh. The four went off to breakfast together, laughing.

Perdita was very happy to have made friends so quickly with Sam and Kelly. Sam and Jeremy had meet a few times before and Sam sat with them on the train there. Kelly had entered their compartment in the middle of the ride talking about how stupid her older brother was. Perdita and Kelly became instant friends, and as soon as they arrived at Hogwarts and were sorted together into Gryffindor, they were even tighter. Kelly and Perdita were the only two in their room that they liked, although they hadn't really talked to the other girls. They all seemed very different from them. Sam and Jeremy knew a few of the other boys in their dorm and talked to them, but they weren't 'best friends'.

"I can't believe that we already had homework last night. The first day and Professor Snape gives us homework! And an essay, at that!" Jeremy groaned.

"Did you do yours?" Perdita asked.

"Of course not! Are you crazy? We have until tomorrow!" Jeremy told her.

"We may have until tomorrow, but that doesn't mean that our other professors won't give us work to do tonight." Perdita told him. "I, on the other hand, did mine last night and read the next six chapters in each our books. That way I won't be so surprised when we get a load of work and have to spend time reading everything fifty times. Instead I'll only need to read everything three times over to make sure I've got the proper amount of information in my work." She smiled proudly.

"Seriously Perdita, you're the smartest witch in this school." Kelly replied.

"Oh, no I'm not. Mum just gave me plenty of suggestions of how to get through school and pass every subject, like she did." Perdita replied.

"She didn't pass Flying." Jeremy said.

"Mum hates flying, although I never understood why. Personally, I love flying." Perdita said, smiling to herself.

"Would you look at that, boys? A half-blood. They make me sick. They're the sorry result of a mudblood and a pure blood. How anyone could ever stain their name by being with a mudblood is beyond me." Hunter sneered as he walked past Perdita.

"Was that directed towards me or am I just hearing things?" Perdita asked, snapping around.

"Wow, she can actually speak intelligently! This is a discovery that's worth marking down!" Hunter said, his two sidekicks laughing. They happened to be Dennis Crabbe and Marcus Goyle. The three had grown up together and their fathers were pleased to see them following in their footsteps as the classic Slytherin Trio.

"Lay off her, Malfoy." Jeremy said.

"Look, her boyfriend is standing up for her! How cute!" Hunter teased. Jeremy turned completely red at the comment. He hated it when people thought of him and Perdita as a couple. He thought of her as a sister and never anything more!

"Shove off, Malfoy! We haven't done anything to you!" Kelly said. Hunter turned to her and smiled as he looked her up and down.

"Maybe you could stop by my dorm later." He said. Kelly made a disgusted face.

"Pervert!" Kelly and Perdita cried out at the same time. Hunter only laughed and walked away.

"I hate those Malfoy's." Jeremy muttered.

"I know. They think they're so good. Dad told me about how his time in Hogwarts was with a Malfoy. Apparently, they're known for being jerks." Sam said.

"His sister is in the same year as my brother. I heard she's actually nice." Kelly said. She turned her head to where a boy with brown hair and green eyes stood talking to a beautiful girl with long, straight bleach blonde hair and blue eyes. Hunter walked by her and shot her a nasty look, although she just rolled her eyes and let out a musical laugh.

"Too bad her brother can't be the same." Perdita added.

"Apparently, she wasn't raised by Draco Malfoy, but instead a nurse maid who was very kind to her. Her parents never spent time with her and therefore she turned out to be very nice. They loved Hunter, though, and treated him like a traditional Malfoy. Some people say that the reason Draco didn't raise his daughter is because the Malfoy's usually only have boys and hardly any girls, which is why you never hear of a female Malfoy getting married to someone. He was ashamed to have a daughter and figured that if he didn't raise her then maybe she wouldn't be considered a Malfoy in everyone's eyes." Kelly explained.

"How do you know all of this when I even don't?" Jeremy asked.

"My parents are very social." Was her only reply.

"I can't wait for our next class!" Sam said as they continued eating.

"What is it?" The other three asked.

"What else but Flying!" Sam said. They all exchanged excited glances.

When the bell sounded, the four bolted up and walked quickly to the courtyard where their Flying lessons would be taught. As the students arrived, Madam Hooch instructed the students to stand next to a broom in a row with their house.

"Great, we're having it with Slytherin." Jeremy muttered as he saw Hunter walking, surrounded by at least half of the students in his year, mostly all girls fawning over his handsome looks.

"Now, put you hands over your brooms and say 'up'," Madam Hooch commanded, the speech very familiar and tired to her.

"Up," Perdita said simply. Her broom flew into her awaiting hand instantly, her friends all turning and looking at her.

"It figures as much," Jeremy said, rolling his eyes and commanding his resisting broom once more.

"Up," Hunter said his second time, the broom rising into his own hand. He sneered across at Perdita, who just rolled her eyes.

"Up. Up! Up!" The students around Perdita called, annoyed with their resisting brooms. After a few minutes, all of the students had hold of their brooms, although some were very annoyed.

"Now, mount you brooms. When I blow my whistle, I want you all to kick off and hover in the air until I give you further instructions. Ready?" Madam Hooch asked. All of the students nodded and kicked off at the sound of the high-pitched whistle. Perdita accidently went up at least ten feet too high, much to her own delight.

"Miss Granger, please," Madam Hooch called.

"Oh, alright," Perdita said, allowing her broom to ease down the extra ten feet she went.

"Nice going, Perdita," Sam muttered to her. She only shrugged.

"Good job, everyone," Madam Hooch said after class was over, collecting the brooms from everyone. On her way back to the professors lounge for a quick cup of coffee, she ran into Harry.

"What year did you just have?" Harry asked her, joining her in her walk.

"Gryffindor and Slytherin first years," Madam Hooch replied.

"Hufflepuff and Gryffindor fifth years for me," Harry replied with a slight groan. The fifth, first, and seventh year students always seemed like the hardest to handle and no one really knew why.

"One of my students is wonderful. I think she had Quidditch in her blood," Madam Hooch commented when they entered the lounge.

"Oh?" Harry replied. "Which one? I haven't had any of my first years yet today."

"Perdita Granger," Madam Hooch replied simply. Harry couldn't help the proud grin that was appearing on his face. His own daughter with Quidditch in her blood. How he suddenly longed that he would have raised her to be like him in his first year and possibly get onto the team.

"Do you think she could get onto the team?" Harry asked, voicing his thoughts slightly.

"If we had an opening, I swear she'd be the next you. She really seems to have some talent," Madam Hooch said. That only made Harry prouder.

"Well, I better get going. I have third year Ravenclaw and Slytherin for two hours next. I'll be needing this," Harry said, grabbing his large cup of coffee and walking proudly out of the lounge. Madam Hooch smiled.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Harry may be the child's father by the way he's acting," Madam Hooch said to herself.

End of chapter!

Sorry it's SO short, but I had to update soon! I was meaning for this chapter to be one where Harry and Perdita got to know each other, but I just decided that it would end up being as long as the first one if I continued so I sort of just left it off as it was. Please review! Thanks!

LadyRainbowStar 13- My very first reviewer! Thank you!

Leah6- Of course! But there will be complications on the way there!

Alex20- Trust me, Perdita won't be very happy when she finds out. And even though Harry seems to proud in this chapter, he really is pissed off. Hermione will be getting a serious tongue-lashing from them both! But you're going to have to wait for that...

Kristine- Thank you so much!

Jaina - sorry I didn't post sooner, but at least I updated! And that's all that matters, right?

Leila - Yeah, I realize that she was sort of casual about it, but she's had to explain it before so it by then she wasn't as bitter about it as she would have been when she was younger. Perdita is a very mature girl.

Loopyidol- Thank you!

Serena Gemini- I know, I hate Cho too. She's so evil! But don't worry, I'll be getting rid of Cho (wink)

Harry's Lost Twin- Thank you!

Eccentrik- Okay! I wrote! Happy?

damon blade- Aw! Thank you so much!

Anonomouse - Hmm...good point...

Atruwriter- You'll find out where I stole Perdita's name from in hopefully the next chapter!

Rebeca Franco- I hope it still looks promising (sweat)

Heather (mouse)- Look! I've updated a story! FINALLY! Aren't you so proud of me? And I'll try to write more of Reflections at school, okay? Heart!

Hentaigigi- Thank you!

Silverian Rose- Oh, don't worry about that! I'd never have it any other way...

-Serenity


	3. Letters

Chapter 3: Conflicting letters

Summary: Harry writes a letter to Hermione. That's all I'm telling you!

Thanks for all my reviews everyone! Sorry it took me like years to update this, but at least I am, right?

Oh! And you're finally going to find out about Perdita's name and where it came from!

(Spiffy divider thingy. Woot!)

The day was long and never seemed to end for Harry. He was so unable to focus for the entire day that one of his students nearly got their hand blown off when another student was jokingly practicing curses. Thankfully, Harry was quick to recognize the name of the curse and immediately made a shield around the frightened 6th year girl. The boy got in trouble and was sent to McGonagall. Harry couldn't stop thinking about Hermione and Perdita, and finally decided to write Hermione a letter.

"Alright, this shouldn't be too hard. I'll just spill out all these thoughts I've had all day," Harry said aloud when he sat at his desk, blank parchment in front of him and a quill ready to write. He dipped the quill in the ink a few more times before finally setting it on the top of the parchment.

"Dear Hermione," Harry wrote. He then started at the words and crossed them out vigorously. "How can I start a letter to her as if it's just a normal letter? I have to think of a better was to start it." So, deciding to use this paper as a rough draft, he wrote just simply her name next to where the previous header had once been. But her name didn't remain there long, for no more then two seconds after dotting the 'i' in her name, he crossed it out. He then tried several other headings such as 'Dear Miss Granger', but decided it sounded too much like a formal letter that one would receive from Hogwarts or something. Also, he realized that 'Miss Granger' was hardly her title anymore. She was some of man's wife. She was now 'Mrs. Whatever'. And although Harry wanted to address her formally, he didn't want to have to call Perdita up to his room at ten at night to ask her the last name of her stepfather. He couldn't even begin to imagine what sort of explanation he could give her.

"Merlin, Hedwig! Why is this so hard? Why can't I just write this damn letter to her?" Harry asked his aging owl. She merely hooted at him and began to groom herself. Harry sighed and looked around his room. He suddenly spotted his wedding picture of him and Cho. Harry watched as he lifted Cho's veil and they leaned in to kiss, the kiss neither chaste nor passionate. It was simply a romantic kiss that ended with them smiling. "Great, now I feel guilty!" Harry said. He leaned over his desk and turned the picture so that it wasn't facing him. He couldn't write a letter to Hermione if Cho was supposedly watching. Cho hated Hermione, and she didn't hide this fact one bit.

(Flashback)

"Harry, are you sure you want to take this job?" Cho asked when Harry was offered the job. Harry looked across their lavish living room at his new bride of three months and nodded.

"What else do you expect me to do with my life, Cho? Join you as co-owner of the Witch Weekly or something? I've gotten rid of every threat possible and now I have nothing to do," Harry asked.

He and Cho had lost contact with one another ever since she graduated but they met up again when she came to interview him after the battle with Voldemort was over, way back when she was simply still a writer for the magazine she was now the owner of. They had gotten to talking a bit about school and Harry suddenly found himself realizing that he was still very attracted to her. He ended up taking her out on a date, which was followed by many more. They continued to date on and off for nearly six years, most of the off time only because one or the other had to be away for a long time, Cho with her magazine and Harry with his 'warding off of rising Dark Lords' as Cho had once written in her article. But, of course, Cho wanted to plan the perfect wedding, so it was another year until they were actually married. Everyone swore that Cho would rob Harry blind of all his money planning their wedding, but Harry kept a very close watch on all that she spent, having actually set up an exclusive account that she could only spend on their wedding, and once she ran out, she had to pay for it herself.

"What about working on a family with me?" Cho snapped, angry that Harry could possibly want to do anything but spend time with her. They had just married and she was supposed to be his top priority. That was just how it had to be.

"Baby, don't get mad. You know how badly I want to start a family but I also want to get more money into our account before that happens. I know that I'm still receiving money from the Ministry for all the work I do for them, and you make a lot at the Witch Weekly, but I just want some security," Harry said. This was a lie, of course. Harry was already bored with Cho and her constant 'Let's go shopping. Let's make love. Pay attention to me!' attitude she had adapted to since they got married. He couldn't believe how different she was from what he thought when they were in school. She always seemed so sweet and caring, but now she was just demanding and quite, to be specific, an attention whore. Besides, he was sick of his house. He had bought all that he wanted and did as much possible with his house, and yet was already bored. He needed something to occupy his time, and some time away from Cho.

"Harry, I don't want you taking this job," Cho said.

"And why not?" Harry replied.

"Because of Granger," Cho replied simply.

"What? What about her?" Harry asked, stunned. Her name hadn't even been brought up since they had dated. He had almost forgotten completely about her. Sure, he was still in contact with Ron, Ron was his best man after all, but Hermione seemed to drop off the face of the Earth. He had only seen a few pictures of her, all of which were the same. They always depicted either Lavender and Hermione or all three or all three and their kids and they'd all just be smiling and laughing, nothing ever unique about the images.

"I can bet you anything that she's married and has a kid of her own. And I don't have a doubt in my mind that her kid will go to Hogwarts. And you'll teach her child, which means you'll fall in love with her all over again through her kid and leave me," Cho said, slamming her magazine on the arm of her chair.

"Cho honey, you're overreacting just a bit, don't you think?" Harry said.

"No I'm not! Harry, I remember that on our first date all those years ago, all you could do was talk about her!" Cho snapped.

'All you could talk about was Cedric,' Harry thought cruelly, but knew that she'd probably hex him if he said that. So, he opted for something different to say. "Cho, a lot was going on back then. I couldn't help my conversations."

Cho got up and walked over to him, standing directly in front of him in her low-cut dark green dress, her black hair pinned up by her hairstylist and her brown eyes covered in too much makeup staring down at him in a glare. Harry hated when her makeup artist did it this way. He loved looking at her when she was natural, like Hermione always was. "Listen to me Harry Potter. I see how you stare longingly at her pictures at Ron's house, I'm not blind. But you better understand that I know enough about you to ruin your entire life. My readers would just die to hear all of the intimate details of the famous Harry Potter's life. Just remember one thing, and that is that you married me, and not her," Cho said threateningly.

Although Cho was as intimidating as anyone in the world, Harry knew full well he had the upper hand in their relationship. Cho was in mad love with him and his money, although Harry never knew which she loved more, though sometimes it was quite obvious. "Cho, I'm taking this job whether you like it or not," at this Harry stood up, looking down at his shorter wife. She practically shrunk in size as she looked up at her husband, the fear in her eyes overcoming her glare. "Now I'm going to write back to them telling them I accept and you're going to get over it, alright?"

"You just better not leave me Harry," Cho said. She almost sounded sad. Harry leaned down and kissed her passionately.

"Forget about Hermione or else I will," Harry told her, looking down at her lust-filled eyes.

"Only if you forget about those old feelings. You're mine," Cho replied possessively.

Harry pulled her closer to him. "No, you're mine."

(End of Flashback)

Harry surprised even himself with his actions that day. Never before had he used his natural power over Cho to get something he wanted out of her, yet he was surprised to find that it worked. Cho shut her mouth about Hermione, seeming to forget that such a person existed in their lives. He made a promise to her to visit as often as he could, and thus far had come home every weekend when he could. But now that school had started up, he had already sent her a letter saying that it was most likely impossible for them to see each other for the next few weeks. Cho sent back the reply that it was alright, which led Harry to suspect that she was almost grateful that Harry wasn't coming home. Suddenly remembering these suspicions, Harry found his courage to write to Hermione, even starting the letter out with "My Dear Forgotten Hermione".

"Take this to Hermione. Good luck finding her, but I know you can," Harry told Hedwig. She nipped his finger affectionately and went flying. Harry watched her as she soared into the night.

(Hermione's house)

"Hermione, there is an owl over here that I don't know. He's rather impatient," Cameron called to his wife the next morning. Hermione came into the kitchen to see a snowy owl pecking at a man's fingers, an unmarked letter at her feet.

"That isn't just any owl! Her name is Hedwig!" Hermione said, excited to see the old owl. Hedwig looked up at Hermione and flew over to her, dropping the letter in Hermione's hands before landing on her shoulder. Hermione set the letter down and affectionately pet Hedwig. "I can't believe you're still alive," Hermione said. Hedwig gave her an evil look and Hermione laughed. "I'm just kidding Hedwig. You're the strongest owl I know." Hedwig hooted happily. "Cameron, give Hedwig something to eat."

"So I take it you know this owl?" Cameron asked, cautiously offering the snowy owl some bacon. Hedwig fiercely took it, causing Cameron to recoil quickly.

"Know her? Of course I do! She's—," Hermione paused, knowing Harry's name was on the tip of her tongue, she quickly changed her mind on what she was going to say, "a friend's owl." She smiled fondly at the unaddressed envelope. "You're such an amazing owl Hedwig. I can't believe you found me," Hermione told the owl as she walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"Hermione who is that letter from?" Cameron asked Hermione, watching his wife walk into the living room in a happy trance.

"Just an old friend," Hermione said, settling herself in her usual armchair and turning the envelope over. She gently tore the letter open, but just before she reached to grab the folded parchment enclosed, she had a thought. 'This letter is from Harry. What could he possibly want to write to me about? This can't be good news if he wants to write to me.' That was enough for her to rip the letter from its envelope and quickly unfold it.

My Dear Forgotten Hermione,

I've tried several times to write this letter and every time, I couldn't manage to say what I wanted to say. Imagine me, the famous Harry Potter, not knowing what to say to his own best friend. But I suppose it's hard to talk to someone after not speaking to them for nearly eleven years. So many things can happen in that amount of time; things such as getting married, having kids, and starting careers. Speaking of, congratulations on your marriage and the birth of your daughter. I'm yet to hear of any business success.

I'm sure that you've already heard all about my marriage to Cho Chang. Can you believe I married Cho? The object of my passion for always half of Hogwarts, that I later gave up on, ended up marrying me. Actually, the story of how we met up again is quite interesting, but I won't bore you with such details (although Lord knows you've bored Ron and me with worse…just kidding) Just, to be short, she interviewed me and we ended up going out of a date that night. I would be very interesting to find out how you met your husband, so maybe one day we may exchange stories.

Speaking of stories, I was going through some Shakespeare the other day. Yes, I read Shakespeare. I know you're looking shocked, but get over it; I'm a very cultured man. So, back to the point, I was reading the classic 'A Winter's Tale'. I found it humorous how much it related to us. It's all about how a king, Leontes, suspects that his wife, Hermione, is having an affair with his best friend and his best friend is banished while she gets put in jail. While in jail, she gives birth to their baby with her friend there to help her through it. She dies and it is said that her daughter is also dead. At the end, Leontes meets his daughter at an older age and his wife is brought back to life.

Notice any similarities? I happened to. There's the obvious one that you have the exact name as the queen, and also the king is the name of my zodiac (give or take some letters). So, getting past those, let's look at the rest of them. Although I'm positive that you didn't sleep with Ron (correct me if I'm wrong, or at least tell Lavender) we did sleep together. And, you left while I, like Leontes, was unaware. You gave birth to a child with the help of your friend, Lavender in this case. You suddenly disappear, as if you died, and I never knew of a daughter. The end of the play has Leontes meeting his daughter and Hermione being brought back to life. Oh, did I forget to mention that Perdita was the name of their daughter, as well the name of ours?

When were you planning on telling me about her, Hermione? I had to be shocked out of my mind when I saw her. I find out I have my first year Gryffindor's, and I'm looking over the list as she walks in, and I can't believe myself. She looks just like me! How could you expect me not to notice? Didn't Ron tell you I was the Defense Against the Dark Art's teacher? He's known ever since I got offered the job. You can't just send Perdita to Hogwarts and expect me not to sense she's mine!

Okay, I know I sound mad, but I'm not. I'm shocked and my mind is still a jumbled mess. I just can't believe that we have a daughter. And don't even sit there thinking 'How could he possibly know that she was his?' like I know you are, because I'm not an idiot. She's the spitting image of me, although it's very obvious she's your daughter as well. Besides, all of the dates match up perfectly. She's my daughter and there's no denying it.

Please Hermione, write me back. I need to talk to you in person and not just through a stupid letter. I know we promised we'd never talk about that night, but ever since I found out what it resulted in, we have to. I give you my word that I won't tell Perdita who I am in relation to her until I've discussed it with you. We can meet up at Hogsmead in a week, where I am to be a chaperone. We should probably pick a place where the students won't be, especially Vince, Jamie, Stephen, Kaitlyn, Christen, and Cynthia. Any Weasley is one that we must avoid since they all know about our situation. I know for a fact that if they notice us talking, they'll tell either Jeremy or Heather, who will tell Perdita about it all. Everything would be exposed for the worst. Write me back with an idea.

Forever loving,

Harry

Hermione sat there staring at the letter after having read it four times over. Harry knew. He knew about Perdita. He even met her. And she was positive that if Harry could sense the fact that Perdita was his daughter, she could probably sense that Harry was her father. Hermione suddenly found herself cursing her stupid idea for giving Perdita her name, but she never imagined that Harry would discover the connection, much less read Shakespeare! Also, she was ready to send Ron a Howler for never telling her about Harry's new job.

She then found herself staring at the end of the letter. 'Forever loving'; such an odd ending. Sure, they used to always end their letters with 'love', but that was a platonic love. Hermione couldn't tell if he meant his ending in a platonic way or in a romantic way.

"Of course it was platonic. We're both married. He knows that," Hermione told herself.

"What darling?" Cameron asked. Hermione looked up to see her husband sitting across from her. She had no idea when he had gotten there.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all," Hermione lied. She then got out of her chair and made her way into the study, finding Hedwig perched on a shelf. "Waiting for a reply I take it?" Hermione questioned the bird. Hedwig hooted in reply and Hermione smiled in an amused way. "I figured as much. Let me write a quick reply and you can be on your way," Hermione told Hedwig. Hermione set Harry's letter in a drawer and took out some blank paper, pulling a pen from her drawer and beginning to write Harry back. When she was done, she rolled the letter up and tied it to Hedwig's leg, not bothering with an envelope. "Have a good flight girl," Hermione said, petting Hedwig before the snowy owl flew off. Hermione sat by the window, watching Hedwig fly off into the night, waiting until she disappeared until she left the study.

(Hogwarts)

"Hedwig!" Harry cried out that night when his bird flew into his room. It was nearly midnight and Harry had been grading papers when Hedwig arrived. He was very excited to see the note attached to her leg, Harry quickly untying it before letting Hedwig go to her usual perch.

Harry unrolled the letter and began reading the text, noting with amusement that Hermione had used regular, blank paper and a plain old pen. It was so like her to stick with her Muggle things even though she was a full-on witch.

My Dear Harry,

Well, Ron will be receiving a Howler from me for not telling me that Perdita would be going to school with you. But, in reply to your letter, we shall meet in the back room at the Hogs Head. There will be no students there.

Yours lovingly,

Hermione

Harry set the letter down and sighed. He couldn't wait until that next Saturday.

-End of chapter!

Oh! Look how they signed their letters…amazingly specific or just a platonic thing? Please review! I'm trying as hard as I can to update! Thanks!

-Serenity


	4. The Map and the Meeting

Chapter 4: The map and the meeting

Uhhh……enjoy!

(Spiffy divider thingy)

Perdita sat in the common room, curled up on the couch reading her Transfigurations book. She was two chapters behind being five chapters ahead and just had to catch up. Although she was sure she knew the entire book by heart from her childhood, she still liked to refresh her memory.

"Look at that. It's our little 'cousin' acting just like our 'aunt'," Jamie said, entering the common room. With her she had Vince, Christen, and Cynthia, her fellow Weasley's. Vince and Jamie looked like complete opposites. Vince was a carbon copy of Ron while Jamie had a lighter red hair, no freckles, and dark blue eyes. Christen was Fred and Angelina's only child and the same age as Jamie. Cynthia was George and Alicia's oldest daughter, and it was no surprise that Christen and Cynthia looked exactly alike. Christen was only a week younger then Cynthia and they had the same color hair, same eyes, and even some of the exact same freckles. They were both Jamie's age of 13 while Vince was 14. Each of them was dressed in normal clothes.

"Hey guys. What's up?" Perdita asked, looking up at the teens she considered to be her cousins since she had none of her own. She had spent her entire childhood with all of the Weasley kids, except for Percy and Penelope's Stephen and Patricia, who didn't even see their own cousins.

"Nothing. We're just getting ready to leave for Hogsmeade," Cynthia said.

"I wish I could go," Perdita muttered, trying to force herself to look back at her book and not long to be in the shoes of the Weasley kids.

"Funny you should mention that," Christen said in a sing-song way that made Perdita look up in interest.

"What do you guys have up your sleeves?" Perdita asked, fingering the pages of her book absentmindedly.

"We thought you might like a little gift that we were given a few years back," Vince said. He had Perdita hooked. She had to know what they had.

"What is it?" Perdita asked.

"Oh, just a map," Vince said simply.

"Oh," Perdita replied in disappointment.

"Here," Jamie said, handing Perdita a rolled up piece of parchment.

"Come on Weasley's!" A group of older kids called as they headed to the portal.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," They all whispered simultaneously as they walked off, smirking. Perdita waited until they left to examine the map she was given.

"Hmm, I wonder what it's a map of," Perdita muttered to herself. She unrolled the parchment and glared at the blank sheet before her. "I should have known." Perdita set it aside and picked up her book again.

But Perdita found that she couldn't focus on her book. Her eyes kept finding their way back to the blank parchment sitting beside her. After fifteen minutes of it pulling at her attention, Perdita put her book down and picked up the parchment.

"Hey Perdita, what's that?" Jeremy asked as he made his way into the Common Room.

"Something Jamie gave me," Perdita replied, studying the parchment.

"It's blank," Jeremy said, looking at it.

"I don't think it is," Perdita said, still scrutinizing the parchment.

"Try a spell then," Jeremy said.

"Fine," Perdita said. She lifted her wand and pointed it at the parchment. "Aparecium," Perdita said. It did nothing. "That was useless," she said in annoyance. She looked up at Jeremy. "You know, they said the funniest thing before they left. 'I solemnly swear I'm up to no good', so something to that affect."

"Perdita, look!" Jeremy gasped, pointing at the briefly glowing map. When the glow went away, they were shocked to see a map sitting before them. "They're moving!" Jeremy cried out, pointing in surprise at the little names moving from place to place.

"Oh my! This is amazing!" Perdita said her eyes huge in surprise. While looking over the map, Perdita came across something interesting. "Look at this, Jerm. It's a secret passageway to Hogsmead," Perdita said. They looked at one another and broke out in huge grins at the same time.

"You are a brilliant witch," Jeremy said.

"Yes, I have such great eyesight," Perdita replied in sarcasm. Jeremy just rolled his eyes. "As much fun as this looks like it could be, how are we going to get to wherever this leads undetected?" Perdita asked.

"Oh, good point," Jeremy said, his brows furrowing. "After all, it's very apparent that we're first years. We'd get caught in a second."

"Unless we looked different," Perdita said.

"And how would we accomplish that?" Jeremy asked. Perdita smirked like crazy.

(Ten minutes later)

"Wow Perdita! I look so much older!" Jeremy gasped as he looked at himself in a mirror. Perdita had charmed his hair to black, somehow making his face look so mature. She then charmed a pair of shoes to add height to Jeremy, making him taller. Finally, she had dressed him in Vince's clothes and somehow managed to give him a broader chest. "You're brilliant; simply brilliant."

"I know," Perdita replied proudly. She straightened her hair and applied make-up in all the right places, give her face a mature, older look. She dressed herself in Cynthia's clothes, stuffing her bra with some tissue paper and charming her own shoes to make herself seem taller as well. They looked so different that it was amazing they were the same people.

"This will be so easy," Jeremy said.

"Just don't open your mouth around professors. Your voice still hasn't changed," Perdita reminded him. Jeremy nodded and they set out together, following the map as best they could. Jeremy found it amazing to watch his own little dot move alongside Perdita's, though Perdita was too busy navigating to take much amazement in it. They finally reached the tunnel after dodging a few professors and students, afraid of being discovered, and followed it, Jeremy having lit his wand with 'Lumos' (under the advice of Perdita, of course) to light their way. They walked for what seemed like forever until they saw a ladder.

"I'll go first and see if there is anyone around. I'm sure no one does this too often," Jeremy said. Perdita nodded and rolled up the map, tucking it safely between the waistband of her pants and her shirt. Jeremy made his way up at the ladder and carefully lifted the hatch, gazing around at the empty storeroom. "Come on up," Jeremy whispered, stepping into the storeroom. He helped Perdita up the ladder and they stood together, listening to the footsteps above them.

"Now what are we going to do?" Perdita asked.

"Well, we can't climb out that window because that's a bit obvious," Jeremy said, pointing to the window in front of them. Perdita nodded her head in reply. "I guess we'll just have to brave it and go up the stairs," Jeremy suggested.

"But won't we get caught?" Perdita asked. "I mean,

"Oh come on, 'Dita. You honestly didn't expect to make this journey and not risk getting caught. That makes this trip all the more fun. C'mon girl, where is your courage?" Jeremy asked.

"I have courage, but not enough to explain to Mum why I was expelled for sneaking into Hogsmeade!" Perdita said.

"Oh come on," Jeremy said, grabbing her by the wrist and going carefully up the stairs. He opened the door and peaked out. No one was there. Quickly, he pulled Perdita out into the empty room and closed the door. "And we're here," Jeremy said.

"Honeydukes! We ended up in Honeydukes," Perdita gasped as they made their way towards the main part of the store. They were incredibly surprised at not having been caught so they proceeded with caution.

"I can't wait to load myself up with this stuff. Mum never lets me get too much," Jeremy said. Perdita laughed and they made their way out of the store and into the main street.

"Wow, I can't believe we're here," Perdita whispered. Sure, she had been to Hogsmeade before. They always went with the Weasley's. But somehow, sneaking there made it seem like so much more. She pushed aside the fact that she had committed a crime in going there and tried to enjoy her time.

(Harry)

Harry sat impatiently at a table at the Hogs Head, drumming his fingers in annoyance on the table. Hermione never said when they'd meet, but Harry had already been sitting there for an hour and he was getting impatient. He was tempted to just get up and walk away, but the idea of seeing Hermione again kept him there. He hadn't seen her in person for almost twelve years.

"If it isn't Harry Potter," a familiar female voice said. Harry looked up and gasped. Standing before him was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. She was tall and slender, wearing plain gray slacks and a scarlet turtleneck that clung to her body. Her hair was left down, golden brown curls dripping down over her shoulder. She wore very little make-up, making her look pure and beautiful.

"Wow, Hermione, you look great," Harry gasped, standing up to greet her. He reached him hand out to shake hers, which she took and shook softly, their gazes never breaking.

"So do you," Hermione replied with a sincere smile. After a long time of merely shaking hands and staring, they dropped their hands and sat down across from one another.

"So, how's Cho?" Hermione asked after a minute, stirring the straw of her drink that Harry had ordered her around with her index finger.

Harry winced at the sound of his wife's name. She would Avada Kedavra him in an instant if she saw him with Hermione. "Cho's…Cho's fine," Harry replied safely.

"I saw that look, Harry. You forget that I've known you for years. How is she really?" Hermione asked. She had a smug expression on her face as his fell at being discovered.

"She's being the same Cho you always warned me about her being," Harry said. He was speaking of a conversation that had had in fifth year.

"Oh, so she really is a gold-digging attention whore who's only interested in how often you can do it and how much money you can give her?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded. "Why are you with her, then?"

"Sometimes, she can be really sincere. She can be the perfect wife, the kind every husband wants to have. Every time we have a party, she's the perfect hostess. She keeps a great house. It's just that all the other times, she's terrible. Besides, if we get a divorce, she'll write all about it in her magazine, exploit the hell out of me, and probably you," Harry said.

"Me? Why would she exploit me?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, come on Hermione. She doesn't know about Perdita, but she knows something happened between us. She'll link any reason of my proposing a divorce to you right away. She'd ruin your life, not matter where you are. And, even if she never knows Perdita is my daughter, she'd still ruin her life. Cho is too dangerous to mess with," Harry said. Harry stared at his Butterbeer for a while before speaking again. "So, how's your husband?"

"Oh, yes, Cameron. He's wonderful. We met one evening in a Muggle café when Perdita was eight. He asked if he could borrow a chair and ended up sitting with me. He asked me out on a date that next night and I found myself falling for him. On our fifth date, I watched from a window as he made flower appear with his wand, and when I answered the door, I was excited to reveal I was a witch and I knew he was a wizard. This drew us to each other and we were married by the next year," Hermione said.

"Does…that is to say, does Perdita like him?" Harry asked. He didn't know why, but he had to know if his daughter approved of Hermione's choice for a replacement father.

Hermione chuckled slightly. "Oh, they've tried for so long to convince me that they get along, but I know they don't. For such a long time, it was only Perdita and I, so introducing Cameron into our life was such a shock for her. At first she was very curious of him, often trying to tag along with us on our dates. Every time he came over for dinner, Perdita fired questions away at him. She didn't have any sort of opinion of him until we were married. That was when she decided she didn't like him, and it didn't really take him long to decide he didn't get along with her. I've tried as hard as I could to try to get them to bond, but it seems nearly impossible to get them to like each other," Hermione replied.

"Sounds like we're both not having very good luck with our families," Harry said.

"I guess so," Hermione replied.

They settled into an uncomfortable silence. Neither knew what to say. They had covered all of the small-talk, which meant that soon, they'd need to get to the reason they came: Perdita. Hermione was getting frustrated with this so she picked up her purse, put it on the table, and began to rummage through it. She finally located an envelope and handed it to Harry.

"What is this?" Harry asked.

"They're pictures of Perdita. I thought you'd like to have some pictures of your own daughter," Hermione said quietly, sitting back in her chair as Harry began to look at the pictures.

"Wow," Harry whispered, pulling out the first picture. It was a Muggle picture of Perdita, tiny and pink, in Hermione's arms. Hermione had a tired yet proud look on her face.

"That's the first picture of her. My mum took it," Hermione replied.

Harry went through the rest of the stack. There were a few more from the hospital, including a picture of Lavender and Ron holding her, Hermione and her parents holding her, and Hermione and Perdita leaving the hospital. The pictures followed their timeline, some of them moving, some of them not. Harry watched through photographs as his daughter grew up. The last picture was one of her getting on the Hogwarts Express. "Wow, Hermione. These are amazing," Harry said.

"They're for you. I made copies. Like I said, I think you deserve to have some pictures of your own daughter," Hermione replied.

"Hermione," Harry said after a moment of looking at the pictures again. "Why did you leave?" Harry said. 'There, I've said it,' he thought to himself.

Hermione looked up at him. "I—I was afraid," she admitted softly.

"What was there possibly to be afraid of? We would have been there for you no matter what," Harry said. He took a breath. "I would have taken care of you."

"Harry, it wasn't that I was afraid of none of you being there, or of you taking care of me, it was just that I was afraid of why," Hermione replied, tears welling up in her eyes at the memory.

"What do you mean, why?" Harry asked.

Hermione sighed and looked him dead in the eye. "Because, Harry, I didn't want you to be there for me just because we had a daughter."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

-End of chapter!

Yes, I'm serious. That's the end of that chapter. But I'm POSITIVE you all know where this cliffy is heading. So then, you can't possibly kill me…right? Someone please tell me I'm right! Please review, and I'll get the next chapter out ASAP!

-Serenity


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